Celebrate your dead loved ones and pets at this Raleigh cemetery this weekend

El Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has always been a family affair for Peter Marín.

As a boy in Mexico, his father Guillermo showed him how to build an ofrenda. The big, flowery altar offerings for the souls of the dead are decorated with framed photos of deceased loved ones, along with their favorite dishes and drinks, in hopes that they come to visit the family they left behind on Earth.

Now as a father and artist in Raleigh, Marín says it’s still a family activity.

On Friday afternoon, Marín directed his father on how to build the centerpiece altar before its 5 p.m. inauguration for this year’s Day of the Dead celebration at Oakwood Cemetery. It’s the first such celebration to include dance and musical performances at the cemetery during its four days of free community events.

“To be able to do this at the cemetery is a huge deal, because these (events) don’t get done like this in the United States,” Marín told The News & Observer. “The cemetery has been extremely helpful and open ... as part of our mission to be able to address death as it happens, or celebrated or dealt with in a different variety of ways.”

Oakwood Cemetery will host family-friendly activities Friday and all weekend for its first “Día de Oakwood” celebration on Friday, Sunday and next Thursday on Nov. 2.

Marín’s father flew in from Guadalajara, Jalisco in Mexico to help prepare the centerpiece altar, which was dedicated to iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

“I’m here with my father, who is the one who showed me these traditions,” Marín said. “And tonight on stage, my daughter’s going to dance. And so I’ve got the three generations of ofrenda-related family interest in here as one. Not only is it like a community highlight, for me, it’s a career highlight or family highlight.”

The purple papel picado, or Mexican perforated paper, was set against bright orange underneath the marigolds, or cempasúchil flowers, hanging from the ceiling of the altar’s tent. The paper was prepared by Marín’s father’s wife in Mexico.

A full schedule of the weekend’s performances and activities can be found online at this link.

‘A cemetery full of life’

Typically celebrated on the first two days of November, Día de Oakwood is Raleigh’s first large-scale Day of the Dead celebration as it is done in Mexico and Central America, open to all and involving a public cemetery.

The event will feature a large community ofrenda altar and run from Friday to Thursday during the cemetery’s regular hours.

There, a large altar spread with framed photos of deceased family, friends and pets of locals. It’s adorned with traditional decorations and overflows with the rich golden-orange of cempasúchil flowers, said to attract the souls of the dead to their offerings

At 10 a.m. Saturday morning, hundreds of runners will pass by the altar for the 11th annual Day of the Dead 5k run that benefits the Brentwood Boys & Girl’s club.

The tradition of a community altar at Oakwood Cemetery began about eight years ago at the 5k, which was started by Angela Salamanca, owner of the Raleigh restaurants Centro and Gallo Pelón.

“We really have been wanting to have a bigger impact when it comes to creating like a shared safe space for people to come and grieve,” Salamanca said in an interview.

When the first public ofrenda was set up years ago, the cemetery’s director Robin Simonton told Salamanca that the public began placing photos of their dead loved ones on their own.

“This is cemetery full of life,” said Simonton. “Celebrations of life look different for every family, every tradition, every culture. We’re honored to use our front fields to show all of our community, one part of our community’s celebration for sacred space.”

Community-made altars for the dead

Marín is continuing his public art installations of ofrendas through Dia de Oakwood, since he first did so with the North Carolina Museum of Art when it hosted an exhibit of Frida Kahlo’s works in 2019 and 2020. He says the cemetery is more appropriate than a museum for a public altar.

Marín helped teach different groups of local students to create their own ofrenda exhibits for the event over the last two months.

The event features exhibits made by students of Green Level High School in Cary, North Garner Middle School, the Boys & Girls Club and Diamante Arts & Cultural Center.

“It’s meaningful for students to feel like they’re part of a larger community, while being able to share something personal about themselves,” said Kristin Smith, manager of school outreach with the NC Museum of Art, which worked with Garner students.

What about criticisms of cultural appropriation? Marín shrugs them off. He wants people of other cultures and ethnicities to participate in a uniquely Mexican holiday.

“What I told the volunteers and the students is that Mexicans want to share this, and why? Because death belongs to all of us,” said Marin. “The evolution of the ofrenda is done by accepting the innovations of others.”